Getting Back on Track

Another peaceful period unfolded, filled with the lively scampering and leaping of the cat-girls.

By now, The Shop Manager had already deduced that this group of cat-girls were, in fact, transformed humans.

Their constant chatter during mealtimes, filled with anecdotes of their former lives, left little room for doubt.

What sort of meals were prepared for them?

They were not drastically different from regular cat food, merely refined with slight adjustments to enhance their appearance and taste.

The cat-girls devoured them with evident satisfaction.

The Director’s long-anticipated educational programs and specialized equipment were gradually put into place.

During this time, the cat-girls primarily attended classes and training within the base.

They learned how to control their newly acquired instincts while on missions and how to appear as much like actual cats as possible when in their feline forms.

The primary focus was on the former, as cats doing anything outlandish was hardly surprising and required no instruction.

Conversely, some of the cat-girls’ natural instincts could lead to considerable trouble.

For instance, just a few days prior, one cat-girl encountered a rather unspeakable predicament.

Her digestive system wasn’t functioning smoothly, a problem that was only resolved after two shovelfuls of sand were added to the litter box.

Then there was the incident during a previous meal when a cat-girl, captivated by the delicious food, let her guard down.

Instinctively, she swatted a small Indian honeybee and popped it into her mouth.

Upon realizing what she had done, she immediately treated everyone to a spectacular display of ‘rainbow-spitting’.

Other peculiar instincts included unconsciously licking their hands when bored, puffing up their fur when frightened, and arching their backs when nervous.

The specialized equipment consisted of clothing woven from expensive materials by the research center.

These garments boasted exceptional elasticity and toughness, robust enough to withstand the cat-girls’ explosive strength.

Concurrently, a small batch of custom-made light weapons and bladed tools was produced using specialized equipment.

It wasn’t that the cat-girls couldn’t handle regular weapons; rather, their hands were too small and their arms too short, making standard implements unwieldy.

Thus, a series of custom weapons with modified structures, closer triggers, and smaller grips were crafted.

A new day dawned, and it was lunchtime.

An empty room had been furnished with dining tables and chairs whose legs had been sawed short.

Indeed, this was the room designated solely as the cat-girls’ dining hall.

The Shop Manager pushed a food cart, laden with three large buckets containing two dishes and a soup, into the room.

She found them all seated in neat rows, their multicolored eyes fixed on the chef who had just entered.

Among the adorable creatures awaiting their meal was an unexpected guest.

It wasn’t Bai, who was always present, playfully clanking her food bowl in the center of the table.

Bai came to freeload on meals every single day.

“Dr. Sun? What brings you here?” The Shop Manager expressed her surprise.

She recognized the woman, respectfully addressed as ‘Doctor’ despite her youthful appearance, and they had exchanged a few words previously, but their interactions had never been more substantial.

The Doctor gave her the impression of having a highly erratic mind, almost unstable, yet perfectly embodying the image of a mystical fanatic researching strange anomalies.

“Oh… nothing, really. I just wanted to check on the cat-girls’ meals.”

“Could you get me a serving too?” The Doctor snapped out of her daze, having been mesmerized by the room full of cat-girls, and requested a meal for herself from the chef.

The cat-girls, true to their nature, finished their meals, washed up, and departed in under ten minutes.

The Shop Manager, too, pushed her cart away.

Only The Doctor, who had barely eaten half her meal, and Bai remained in the room.

The Doctor gently set down her utensils and grumbled to Bai, “Not only is it bland, but it also has a fishy smell.”

Bai looked up, twitching her ears.

‘Did that mean… she didn’t like it?’

Bai extended a paw and nudged The Doctor’s bowl closer.

‘If you don’t like it, the cat-girl will eat it all!’

Bai, the large cat-girl, weighed twenty pounds and possessed an enormous appetite!

The Doctor rested her chin in her hand, observing Bai as she ate, lost in thought.

Her visit today was actually to secretly verify something.

The previous incident, where Bai altered a containment object and learned its abilities, had greatly piqued her interest.

She had initially intended to conduct further experiments based on this, but subsequent changes in the policy regarding Bai had led to the matter being dropped.

However, The Doctor never forgot it.

Others might not have noticed, but The Doctor keenly observed that Bai seemed to possess an unregistered, hidden ability.

Precognition.

The Doctor speculated this was the case.

Bai had exhibited related abilities when first discovered, and in subsequent daily life, there were multiple instances where Bai acted as if she already knew things without any prior communication.

Research on the statue, which almost cost Yun Juan her life during its retrieval last time, had stalled.

Even using death row inmates for such life-threatening experiments was not a daily occurrence; this was a society governed by law, with only a few executions per year, and even fewer available for clandestine experimentation.

Using death row inmates for experiments was already inhumane enough.

Given the domestic environment, it was impossible to conduct biochemical experiments on an entire city’s population, unlike in some other countries.

Consequently, research into these extremely dangerous containment objects proceeded at a snail’s pace.

No consistent patterns could be deduced, and previous summaries of dangerous containment objects were likely incomplete.

This had been a persistent concern for The Doctor.

Thus, The Doctor conceived a bold idea.

Watching Bai finish her cat food, The Doctor leaned closer.

“Xuan Bai, darling cat-girl, would you do me a favor?”

“If you do, I’ll give you ten boxes of cat treats.”

Bai ignored the ‘bad woman’ who had pressed her face close to hers, stood up, and prepared to leave.

Cats were known to hold grudges.

Bai would never trust a ‘bad woman’ who had deceived a cat once before.

“Don’t go, it’s true!” The Doctor scrambled onto the table and grabbed Bai’s leg.

This was the third person to grab Bai’s leg.

Having her limbs restricted and unable to move freely was extremely uncomfortable for a cat, unless her entire body was wrapped or she was in a confined space.

In any case, Bai felt a flicker of annoyance.

She kicked her hind legs fiercely, broke free, and walked a few steps away, intending to observe what this ‘bad woman’ would do next.

She couldn’t escape, because Bai foresaw that if she did, this woman would try to ambush her every day.

‘Hmm, and I also saw that she really does have ten boxes of cat treats, so perhaps I can humor her request a little.’

The snow-white girl, nestled in a giant cat bed, floated along with The Doctor to the monitoring room.

“Can you discern any special abilities this object possesses?” The Doctor pointed at the motionless stone sculpture, retrieved last time, on the monitor.

Bai had already known what The Doctor wanted her to do when she activated her ability moments ago.

Now, seeing the image of the statue’s physical form, even if only on a monitor, was enough for Bai to perform her task.

[All-Seeing Eye][B-11352 (Unnamed)][Within a ten-meter radius centered on this statue, speaking words containing meanings such as ‘death’ will cause information erosion, leading to transformation into an undefined substance.]

Bai blinked, rolled over in her cat bed, and pondered how to articulate her findings.

Only then did she speak in a soft, sweet voice: “This stone statue, use it, surrounding, um… ten-meter long circle.”

Bai, who had never attended school, clearly understood all concepts of a circle but couldn’t verbalize them.

She didn’t know the term ‘radius’, and could only anxiously flick her tail, making circular gestures with both hands.

“A ten-meter radius, correct?” Fortunately, The Doctor was able to infer what Bai was trying to express.

“Mhm, that’s right,” Bai nodded.

“Inside the circle, talk, death-like words, will be changed.”

The Doctor frowned deeply.

“Within this range, speaking words related to death will cause them to turn into a stone statue, is that right?”

Communicating with Bai without a contract was truly challenging.

The Doctor now wished she could send this child to kindergarten to teach her how to speak properly, starting from the phonetic alphabet.

Fortunately, the most fundamental special ability had been identified.

For such an anomalous ability, experimentation would normally cost at least a few lives.

But this was merely the most basic information.

The Doctor could immediately think of several experiments.

For instance, what would happen if someone stood within the range, and a recording of a pre-recorded voice was played from outside the range?

What if the recorder and the person switched positions?

Could all languages trigger it?

Could a self-created language trigger it?

What if the speaker didn’t know the meaning of their words—would it still trigger?

Could a word containing ‘death’ but completely unrelated to mortality trigger it?

How would a word that didn’t contain ‘death’ but metaphorically implied it be counted?

These were all questions that piqued The Doctor’s curiosity.

Bai widened her eyes, watching the woman who, after hearing her answer, was now furrowing her brow in contemplation, her mind overflowing with an endless torrent of new questions.

Bai’s eyes swirled in circles.

‘@ω@’

‘Wow, this person thinks so much.’

“Thank you for your trouble.”

“I’ll have the cat treats sent to your home.”

“Perhaps I’ll need your help with other things in the future,” The Doctor said, smoothing her brow and dismissing further thought.

Thinking so much without a solution only brought more trouble.

‘Phew…’ Bai breathed a sigh of relief.

Although she didn’t know why, she was glad The Doctor hadn’t pressed her with those countless questions.

It wasn’t that Bai couldn’t answer them, but rather that it was genuinely troublesome, exceptionally troublesome.

Speaking was truly troublesome.

Strolling out of the research center, Bai swung her tail tip back and forth in delight.

The cat was now eager to roll around on ten boxes of cat treats!

“Bai? Why are you in human form?” On her way back, Bai encountered Wei the Cat, fully equipped and carrying a large box on her back.

“I was just about to look for you.”

“Your contractor is about to embark on their first mission.”

“Would you like to come and see?”

‘Mission?’ Bai’s understanding of a mission was akin to hunting.

‘Her companions were about to begin their first hunt as cat-people? This was certainly something to celebrate.’

Of course Bai would go!

Wagging her tail even more excitedly, Bai nodded.

“Cat-girl wants to go!”